


Peculiar Legends

by terrifier



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games), Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016), Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
Genre: Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Drama, Family, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Power and Peculiarities | bnharegencyzine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:00:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27433183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terrifier/pseuds/terrifier
Summary: In which the Apex Legends are peculiar children with peculiarities instead of technology and are adopted by Miss Peregrine.
Relationships: Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> it took me four days to write this chapter, i hope y’all like it

The lady appeared to them in the form of a bird. Her wings, a royal blue, disturbed the dirt on the floor before she changed from a bird into a human just as beautiful as her avian self. Ironically, her features suited her for they were fairly bird-like with her wide, piercing eyes and her sharp nose. Her black hair was streaked with navy blue.

Bloodhound (or simply Hound), as they had taken to calling themselves for they had never had a real name nor a family to name them- not anymore anyway and, well, their family hadn't been the nicest to begin with- startled at the change in form, despite her non-threatening posture, and turned to find an exit.

Unfortunately, they had forgotten they were hiding out in an alleyway looking for some decent food, and so they came face to face with a brick wall. They stared at the wall through their goggles, then turned back to the woman.

They hated to do so in front of a stranger, but they had no choice. If they wanted to stay out of harm's way, they needed to know what the woman wanted. And so, they used the ability the Gods had gifted them from a young age to glimpse into theirs and the woman's future, to see what the woman would do.

They found, as they watched the woman, now glowing orange and leaving footprints of the same colour, that the woman was not going to harm them. Though they had no idea what the woman actually wanted, they saw that the woman meant no ill will toward them.

Safe in this knowledge, they drew away from the future and back to the present where the woman was watching them calmly, no fear or confusion on their face. A smile graced her face as she took a step forward. Though they had glimpsed the future and they trusted their sight, they still tensed and shuffled back an inch, worn boots scraping the floor.

"There's no need to fear me," the woman spoke, her voice calm and welcoming in a way. "My name is Miss Peregrine."

"Like the bird you arrived as," Hound noted before they could stop themselves from speaking.

"Why, yes," the woman, Miss Peregrine, beamed. Hound felt their heart-rate spike. "You don't seem afraid of me."

"You won't hurt me," Hound stated surely.

"And how do you know that?" Miss Peregrine asked, but there was no malice in her voice, merely curiosity.

Hound shrugged, unwilling to reveal their secrets.

"Is it because of what you can do? Because of your ability?"

Fear struck Hound right in between their ribcage, anxiety niggling away at their stomach, causing nausea. How did this woman know? How could she know what Hound could do?

No one knew. Not even Uncle Artur had known before he had banished them for- he hadn't known so how did she know?

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Hound whimpered, alarmed to find tears falling into the bottom of their goggles. At least the woman couldn't see their moment of weakness.

"It's okay," Miss Peregrine soothed, "I'm not here to hurt you. You have my word."

"Then what do you want?" Hound demanded. They circled their arms around their waist.

"You have an amazing gift," Miss Peregrine said, "but you're not the only one. There are others like you, other children with extraordinary gifts- peculiars they're called."

"Peculiars? What gifts?" Hound's head swam with the information.

"Yes, peculiars," Miss Peregrine smiled as she answered, "peculiarities are a recessive gene passed down through generations. Not everyone has these amazing gifts and so we live in loops to keep us safe from the dangers of the outside world."

"What are loops?" Hound asked.

"Why, loops are created by peculiars such as myself. I'm an ymbryne. I can turn into a bird, but I can also create loops. Loops are created to protect peculiar children. To do this, we ymbrynes choose the perfect day and then capture it. When the day ends, we reset the loop and the day is ours to live in forever," Miss Peregrine explained.

"That sounds... nice," Hound begrudgingly admitted.

"It is very nice. You could come and live in my loop if you like," Miss Peregrine offered. "You won't be alone, of course. As I said, there are other peculiar children there."

Still suspicious, Hound looked away in thought. One the one hand, they still didn't know this woman. She had appeared from nowhere, already with the knowledge of what they could do. But on the other hand, she herself was 'peculiar' as she had called it, and she had opened up freely to Hound and offered them a safe space to live.

That meant off the streets, a roof over their head, food in their belly. A place where they could be themselves without judgement or prying eyes.

It was tempting.

"I suppose I could come with you," Hound agreed.

"Excellent," Miss Peregrine smiled brightly, hands clasped. Her navy nails were as sharp as her talons. Though her eyes were sharp, Hound couldn't deny they were bursting with maternal affection. "The ferry won't arrive for another..." she pulled out a silver pocket watch, ticking loudly, "three hours. In the meantime, why don't we find a café and you can tell me more about yourself."

"I am afraid I do not have any money, felagi," the name slipped out unintended, and Hound's eyes widened in alarm, but it was too late to take it back as Miss Peregrine was already talking again.

"Not to worry, dear, I didn't intend on you paying anyway," Miss Peregrine said, "what kind of woman would I be if I let my ward pay for their own food?"

Miss Peregrine pivoted on the spot and began to lead the way out of the alley. Hound was quick to follow behind her.

"Ward?" They asked as they trailed behind.

* * *

The next three hours spent with Miss Peregrine were strange, to say the least. They found the nearest café, one named Harvester, after the street it was on, and ordered some food for themselves.

Miss Peregrine let Hound order whatever they wanted and so they took advantage of that, hunger now an insatiable presence lingering in the forefront of their mind.

As they ate, Miss Peregrine asked their name. They didn't know why, but they had expected her to already know it considering she already knew of their peculiarity. They gave it to her anyway, deciding to shorten it permanently to Hound seeing as Bloodhound was more of a stage name than a real one.

If Miss Peregrine had any quarrels or questions about their name being Hound or their lack of surname, she didn't mention it.

After asking a few more questions, such as their age, where they lived (nowhere, they told her resolutely), and other boring things like that, Miss Peregrine began to explain more about the peculiar children and her loop.

Apparently, there were fourteen other peculiar children, each with varying different peculiarities. Hound hid their shock at the number of children living together with a mouthful of toast, but Miss Peregrine must have picked up on it because she chuckled and reassured there was enough space for them all and they all received the same amount of love and attention.

Though Miss Peregrine said she would have loved to take in all the peculiar children in the world, she informed Hound that they would be the last.

When they were done eating and had downed their glass of hot chocolate, Miss Peregrine checked her watch and announced they had another two hours. Thus, they were taken shopping for new clothes. Apparently, since they were going to be living at the loop now, they needed new clothes.

They didn't complain (in fact, they were grateful. Their current clothes were starting to feel heavy with grime, and the holes beginning to appear in the soles of their boots were growing with each footstep.

Miss Peregrine helped them pick out some clothes that suited them and felt comfortable at the same time, as well as a new pair of shoes which they put on after they left the shop then tossed their old shoes into the nearest bin. They were of little use now that they had a better pair.

By the time they had finished, they had little under an hour to get to the dock before their ferry arrived so they shifted their bags into an easier position to carry and followed Miss Peregrine through the town they were so familiar with but were about to leave, and towards the dock.

* * *

Hound didn't remember most of the journey. They didn't realise how exhausted they were until they settled in on the ferry and promptly fell asleep, head slipping to rest on Miss Peregrine's shoulder.

When they next woke, it was to a hand shaking them gently and a voice telling them to wake up.

They opened their eyes groggily, going to rub the tiredness from them but stopping when their fingers met their goggles.

"The ferry has arrived, dear," Miss Peregrine loomed above them, one hand on Hound's shoulder.

"Are we nearly at the loop?" Hound asked as they tiredly rose from their seat and began to follow Miss Peregrine off of the ferry.

"Yes," she chuckled, "it's on this island."

Hound would be lying if they said they weren't excited about finally arriving at the loop. They'd never met other children who could do things like they could. Hound had never told anyone what they could do, but they knew it wasn't normal. After all, how many people could say they could look inside other people's futures or pasts to see where they had been?

Not many, they imagined.

They couldn't wait to meet these other children and see what they could do. Peculiarities, according to Miss Peregrine, could be anything. Ranging from levitation to pyrokinesis, to having an extra mouth in the back of your head (something Miss Peregrine had seen at another ymbryne's loop).

After leaving the ferry, they stepped onto a little island known as Cairnholm. Already, Hound could see that it wasn't very popular as very little people wandered even the busiest part of the island.

The busiest part of the island was a pub that was packed with patrons, each with a drink in hand. One of the customers caught their eye, a boy with brown hair, a fringe falling into his eye past a bandana wrapped around his forehead. They had no time to question why a boy of his age was in a pub because Miss Peregrine ushered them onwards and they remembered why they were even on the island.

They sent one last look behind them towards the pub, but the boy was gone. Their brows furrowed but they quickly forgot about it in favour of following Miss Peregrine through the island and to her loop.

It didn't take much longer before they arrived at the entrance, as Miss Peregrine called it. It didn't look like much. In fact, it looked just like a small cave. Uninteresting and boring.

"I do not see your home," Hound stated.

"Well, it's your home now," Miss Peregrine, "and it's through there. This is the loop entrance."

Hound followed her slender finger to where it was pointed at the cave entrance and tilted their head.

"It is through this cave?"

"Yes, now follow me," Miss Peregrine advised, "And remember, don't panic."

Following the ominous warning, Hound steeled themselves and followed her through the cave. What they felt next was strange. It was like when they used their peculiarity, but also, stronger. The sound that followed the sensation, the sound of a ticking clock, was overwhelming. It made their ears pound. They barely resisted the urge to cover them.

When they stumbled out of the small cave after Miss Peregrine, she caught them. Whatever had just happened, they never wanted experience it again. They could still almost hear the ticking in their mind.

"That was not nice," they stated resolutely as they straightened up out of Miss Peregrine's grasp.

"It's over now," she told them.

As they stepped back from Miss Peregrine, they finally took in their surroundings. Everything was a stark contrast to the outside of the loop. It was brighter, the grass was greener, it was more... alive than what existed outside of Miss Peregrine's loop.

Out there, it was dull and grey, and cold, whereas in the loop, the sky was blue and the sun's rays were powerful and warm.

The home was the most magnificent thing. It was huge, and Hound felt their jaw falling slack at the sight of it. They'd never seen a home as big as Miss Peregrine's.

"Hey, newbie."

Hound yelled in alarm, falling back and crashing into Miss Peregrine who, once again, caught them. Never in their life had someone managed to successfully sneak up on them, yet whoever this person was, they had done it and made a fool out of Hound in the process. Their cheeks burned.

"Renee, what have I told you about sneaking up on people?" Miss Peregrine scolded.

Hound turned around, face still red as they pulled away from Miss Peregrine, to see the new addition who had snook upon them.

They met eyes with a girl of around similar height to themselves. Her skin was pale, and her hair was black, tied up in a bun on top of her head with some loose hair framing her face. She had a scarf wrapped loosely around her neck. Her hands were placed securely on her hips, and her lips had curved up into a satisfied smirk.

"Uh, you said not to do it?" The girl, Renee, said.

"And what did you do?" Miss Peregrine continued.

"I did it," Renee sighed, shoulders sagging guiltily as she removed her hands from her hips.

"Don't do it again, please," Miss Peregrine requested.

"Honestly, what's the point in being able to teleport and turn invisible if I can't use it to sneak up on people?" Renee pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Renee? Where are you? Come and play with us before Miss P returns!"

A new voice joined the conversation, cutting through the air from somewhere further in the garden.

Renee gasped and Hound's eyes flickered to hers to see that her cheeks had a faint blush painting them, her ears bright red. It was hard to miss with her pallor. Whoever this girl was calling for Renee, it seemed the latter liked her. Really liked her, Hound thought with amusement.

"Over here, Nat!" Renee finally called out to the searching voice. To Hound's amazement, she didn't stutter.

"Renee, what are you doing by the loop entrance? Have you been outside ag-" the voice came to a halt when the girl came into view and noticed the two extra people with Renee. "Miss P, you're back!"

The girl, with short blonde hair, blue eyes, and a spiderweb scar on her right cheek from an unknown injury, ran forward and launched herself at Miss Peregrine.

"We have missed you so much," the girl (had Renee called her Nat?) told Miss Peregrine, pulling away and holding her at arm's distance.

Suddenly, the blonde girl's attention was on Hound. The latter's eyes widened behind their mask in alarm and they tried their hardest to look normal.

"Oh, and you must be the newest addition to our family," the girl planted her hands on Hound's shoulders, "it is so great to meet you! My name is Natalie, but you can call me Nat! What is your name?"

"Natalie, calm down, there will be plenty of chance to get to know them in a minute," Miss Peregrine gently pulled Natalie away. The girl looked sheepish.

"Them?" Renee spoke up with confusion. "I thought you were a girl."

"Renee," Miss Peregrine said in that tone that only adults seemed to be able to summon.

"I am neither a girl nor a boy," Hound said defensively, arms crossed over their chest and a scowl on their face.

"Huh, okay," Renee shrugged.

Hound almost got whiplash. Okay? Their arms fell limp by their sides. Usually when they told people what they were and what they wished to be referred to as, they flipped. Questions were thrown about, accusations. They were just confused. They didn't know what they were talking about.

Their heart pounded as they searched Renee's face for any signs of malicious intent, of disgust, of hatred. They found nothing but acceptance.

"I'll go fetch the others, let them know you're here," Renee announced.

They gave a small nod.

"Thank you, Renee," Miss Peregrine smiled.

Renee smiled and then disappeared behind a purple circle. Hound watched in intrigue as the circle vanished the second Renee was through it.

"I can't wait for you to meet the others! They're going to love you," Natalie's voice broke their concentration on the spot Renee had been stood in. "Come on, let's go. I'm so excited."

Suddenly, Hound's arm was looped with Natalie's and they were being guided down the path towards the house. Natalie, they decided as they walked, could talk forever. She had a lot to say about everything and anything.

It felt like she had recited an entire book by the time they had reached the entrance to their new home. Even from outside the giant house, they could hear the loud chatter from the other children inside. How many peculiar children had Miss Peregrine said she had? A lot, by the sounds of it.

"They're not always this loud, promise!" Natalie said. It was an obvious lie judging by her forced smile.

Hound nodded anyway.

"I am used to noise," they said.

Which was true. Growing up where they had, then living on the streets for a couple of years, it almost seemed like their entire life had been filled to the brim with so much noise. In fact, being on the ferry (the few minutes they had been awake) had been the quietest it had been in a long time.

Miss Peregrine did the honours of opening the door and leading the way inside.

Immediately, like a flip had been switched, they were all bombarded by a hoard of children. One of them appeared before them in a second with a speed that had Hound shielding their face, expecting impact. The others all followed suit, Renee following the first boy, showing up through her portal.

One of the boys Hound recognised. They wracked their brain, trying to figure out where they'd seen him before, and then it came to them. It was the same boy they'd seen in the pub on the way to the loop. They looked between the boy and Miss Peregrine before deciding to stay quiet on the matter. There was no way Miss Peregrine hadn't seen the boy, what with the way he'd had his face pressed up against the glass.

In a matter of seconds, all of the other peculiar children had gathered in front of Hound, Miss Peregrine, and Natalie. Hound was only slightly intimidated by the curious and smiley faces staring at them.

"Children, did I not tell you to wait in the sitting room?" Miss Peregrine tsked.

"We did, Miss, but you were gone for ages and we wanted to meet the new kid," the kid who'd appeared before Hound in a split second rambled. Hound noticed he was bouncing up and down on the spot, clearly unable to stay still for more than a second.

Miss Peregrine sighed and closed the door to the house, seemingly giving up on getting her excitable children to wait any longer.

"I see I cannot convince you all to wait for another second," Miss Peregrine chuckled. She placed a hand on Hound's shoulder. "Children, this is Hound. They are the newest addition to our family."

Suddenly, the children all began talking at once, questions flying out left right and centre. Hound was overwhelmed by the number of questions thrown at them, all of the peculiars begging for their attention.

They tried their hardest to keep up with the questions, to decide which they would answer, but there were too many and they ultimately gave up.

"Children!" Miss Peregrine's commanding voice cut through the peculiar's bombardment of questions, and they all quickly fell quiet, chastised. "How do you expect them to answer when you're all talking at once?"

The children all looked sheepish and guilty, and apologised to both Hound and Miss Peregrine.

"Right, now, it's obvious you all have questions," Miss Peregrine said, "so, one at a time, please. And remember, be kind."

"What can you do?" One of the girls spoke up before any of the others could. They were quick to shoot daggers at her and cross their arms with identical pouts.

"I can see where people have been or where they will go," Hound revealed, a little bit of pride seeping into their voice knowing that these people wouldn't judge them because they were just as peculiar as Hound was.

"Woah," the girl grinned.

"So you can see into the future?" The boy who was unable to stay still asked.

"I suppose," Hound decided, "it is complicated."

"You have an accent. Where are you from?" The boy from the pub asked the next question.

"I am from England," Hound said.

"But that's not an English accent," Renee pointed out.

"Yes, my family and I are originally from Iceland," Hound admitted, "we moved to England five years ago."

"Oh, where are your family?" The same pub boy questioned.

Hound remained silent for a moment. They didn't want to talk about their family and probably wouldn't for a long time yet. The way they had parted with their family hadn't been pretty, and if they could, they would erase their memories of the events if only to avoid the discomfort it brought emotionally.

They could give a short answer, though.

"... They are not around," Hound answered.

"Ha, join the club," the boy shrugged.

"Okay, I think that is enough questions for today," Miss Peregrine announced, much to the children's displeasure, "it's been a long day for everyone, especially Hound. Now, I'm going to show them where their room is and then we can eat supper."

Some of the children groaned at the idea of not being allowed to ask any more questions while the others all looked excited to be able to eat.

The children all hurried away to find something to do while they waited, and Miss Peregrine led Hound up the stairs, Natalie following them both, and in addition, Renee who obviously wanted to spend time with Natalie.

The room Hound was led to was spacious. There were two beds in there, both on either side of the room pushed up against the walls. As well as a bed, there was a set of wardrobes at the foot of each bed.

Hound guessed they were sharing a room with someone else. Not that they minded; in fact, they were excited. They'd never had a friend let alone been allowed to share a room with someone.

"This is your room," Miss Peregrine led the way inside, "you will be sharing with Renee, I hope that's okay."

"It is fine," Hound smiled a little, barely able to contain their composure.

"Oh, good," Miss Peregrine grinned, "now, why don't you unpack your things and I'll go and start supper. Renee and Natalie will help you if you need anything."

"Thank you very much," Hound bowed their head, "I am most grateful for your kindness."

Miss Peregrine chuckled, "you're welcome, my dear."

With that, she left the room to start supper, leaving Hound, Renee and Natalie in the bedroom.

Natalie squealed, startling Hound and Renee.

"Oh, I am so excited! We did not think Miss Peregine would take any more peculiars in because there are already so many of us," Natalie gushed, "but when she told us you would be joining us, we were all so happy! And here you are!"

Hound felt their cheeks burning and they turned their head slightly.

"Let us help you unpack," Natalie offered.

Nodding, Hound placed their bags on the bed that was unoccupied and began to remove their new clothes. Renee and Natalie began to help Hound unpack and put their clothes into their wardrobe.

Hound stared at the two peculiars as they put their clothes away, wondering how their luck had changed so quickly in a day. Not even five hours ago, they had been searching for food in an alleyway lest they starve to death in the coldness of autumn.

Then suddenly, Miss Peregrine had appeared as if by the will of the Allfather and saved them. No longer would they have go days without food, they wouldn't have to live on the unforgiving streets without a place to call their own.

As they hung up their new clothes in the wardrobe, they decided the owed Miss Peregrine their life. They were forever in her debt.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hound gets to know the peculiars and runs away from a terrifying future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ol’ revenant doesn’t have a real canon name so I decided to call him Simon because he looks like a Simon lol :)
> 
> Also, Pathfinder is called Marvin
> 
> anyways, i hope you enjoy this chapter x

As Miss Peregrine mentioned to their fellow peculiars, Hound was exhausted after such an eventful day. All they wanted was to settle into their new room and sleep. Alas, they knew it was expected of them to attend supper. They supposed it would be a good way to get to know the people they would be living alongside for the rest of their life. However long that would be. They paused behind Renee and Natalie as the thought struck them out of the blue.

How long was forever? How long would they be living in Miss Peregrine's loop? The thought was ugly and, dare they say it, unappreciative. They pursed their lips and shook their head as if to physically dispose of the thought.

Miss Peregrine had taken them in out of the kindness of her heart though she already had a large number of children to care for; who cared how long they would be there? In fact, they hoped they would be there forever. They'd never had a place they could call home. Not really, anyway.

They continued following Renee and Natalie, mindlessly memorising the layout of the large house.

"Supper's usually at five every day, but, of course, with your arrival, it's a little late," Renee said just as Hound refocused on the conversation, "and there are a few bathrooms so we have to share, but it's not as bad as it sounds."

"Unless Octavio or Elliott get there first," Natalie added with mirth.

"That's true," Renee agreed, smiling, "after supper, we change into our pyjamas and watch a movie. Oh, and the Bird resets the loop after the movie."

"Resets the loop?" Hound asked as the trio reached the bottom of the stairs they'd been descending.

"Yeah, if the loop isn't reset at the same time every day, it'll close and all the years we've spent in it will catch up with us."

The implications of her sentence were left hanging in the air causing Hound to raise shocked eyebrows. Miss Peregrine hadn't mentioned that part to them.

"But do not worry, Miss Peregrine _always_ resets the loop," Natalie reassured them hastily, “and it is so beautiful! You will love it, promise.”

Slowly, Hound nodded. If it was as beautiful as Natalie said it was, they couldn’t wait to see it. They hadn’t even known about loops and peculiars before today.

“Come on, let’s hurry up before the Bird sends someone to find us,” Renee smirked.

Hound lingered back for a few seconds before sighing and jogging after the pair lest they get lost. It turned out they weren’t that far from the dining room anyway.

They rejoined Renee and Natalie just outside the dining room, and then followed the pair in. 

All of the other peculiar children were already in there, chatting loudly and messing around by the looks of it. The fast kid with wide eyes and a cheeky smile was running laps around the lengthy table filled with food. There was another kid, an older girl with dark skin and an annoyed expression, trying to catch him and get him back in his seat.

Some of the other children looked amused by the display while others looked bored as if it were a regular occurrence. 

Hound noticed that Miss Peregrine wasn’t in the dining room. They couldn’t help but wonder what her reaction would be when she turned up. Would she punish them all for misbehaving or would she roll her eyes with a fond smile and simply ask them all to sit down?

They didn’t want to take the chance and so they sat down at the nearest seat which happened to be next to a woman with tan skin and her long hair in braids. Hound could tell she was very pretty though she wasn’t looking at them. Even her side profile was Godly.

Someone sat on their other side. They looked to the right and saw Natalie. She smiled brightly at them and they smiled back, a little bit awkwardly.

”Don’t worry, he will stop when Miss P gets here,” Natalie told Hound.

As if on cue, just as Hound had looked back to the spectacle of the kid running around the table like a hare, the door to the dining room opened and in stepped Miss Peregrine carrying a tray with what Hound could see was a large bird on it.

”Octavio, please take your seat,” she sighed, “polite persons do not run circles around the dinner table.”

”Sorry, Miss P,” the fast kid, Octavio, surprisingly listened and rushed to his seat.

The girl who’d been trying to catch him breathed a sigh of relief and took her own seat beside him.

”Ah, Hound, I see you found the dining room okay,” Miss Peregrine addressed Hound.

”Renee and Natalie kindly showed me where it was,” Hound explained.

”Thank you, girls.”

Hound noticed Renee, who was across from Natalie, smile behind her palm.

After putting the tray in the centre of the table, Miss Peregrine sat in her seat at the head of the table. She put a napkin over her lap and, seeing the others do the same, Hound copied them.

”You may eat,” Miss Peregrine announced.

Immediately, chatter began again as everyone began to eat the food that was on their plate. Some of the kids reached for other foods and sauces that were scattered along the length of the table, while Hound bowed their head.

”Thank you for this meal,” they muttered.

They could feel the eyes of Natalie and the girl on their other side on them, but they gabbed their utensils and shovelled a forkful of peas into their mouth.

“Are you religious?” The girl on their left asked in an accent Hound hadn’t heard before. It was subtle yet strong.

They swallowed and began to answer but then someone else spoke over them.

”Hey, Houndie!” It was the boy they’d seen in the pub. “Wait, you don’t mind if I call you that do you?”

 _Yes,_ Hound wanted to say but they didn’t for the sake of politeness.

”Anyway, my name’s Elliott Witt. Wanna see my peculiarity?” The kid, whose name they now knew was Elliott, asked.

”Uh,” Hound lowered the fork from their mouth, unsure how to answer. 

At Elliott’s offer, several of the other children all began offering to show their peculiarities. Even Octavio though Hound could already guess what made him so unique, if his superhuman speed was anything to go by.

”Hey, I offered first!” Elliott said to Octavio.

The noise slowly grew until Hound couldn’t tell who was talking let alone what they were saying. The only thing they could hear was the girl beside them chuckling to herself. They could see from the corner of their eye that Natalie had covered her ears against the noise.

Finally, Miss Peregrine rose from her seat and shouted over the noise.

”Children! Settle down!” She managed to get their attention. “If they don’t want to see your peculiarities just yet, then that’s fine. Today has been overwhelming enough for them. Just your name will suffice.”

Half of the children deflated dejectedly but Elliott persevered. 

“But... you do want to see our peculiarities, don’t you?” He asked Hound.

They nodded their head a little jerkily.

”It would be interesting to see what you can all do,” they said.

Hound saw Elliott’s smile widen with excitement.

“Brilliant,” the girl beside Hound spoke.

They looked to her and watched as she pulled her hands toward her as if grabbing something out of thin air. And, to Hound’s surprise, as if she had actually taken several items out of thin air, she danged three objects out in front of her.

One item Hound recognised as Miss Peregrine’s watch which the girl dangled from her rind hand. In the other hand, she shook a black leather belt as well as a pair of goggles which Hound had seen a red-haired girl wearing on her forehead.

”Loba!” Elliott huffed with annoyance.

”What?” The girl, Loba, shrugged. “We all know I have the better peculiarity.”

”Do not! Look!” Elliott snapped.

In the next moment, there were several Elliotts littered around the room. They all wore the same expression as the original Elliott, or who Hound assumed was actually the real one.

”Now, now, Elliott, she’s just teasing you,” Miss Peregrine took her watch back from Loba and reattached it to her jacket.

The redheaded girl held out her hand with an amused smile and, with a flick of Loba’s wrist, the goggles appeared in her palm. She put them back on her head.

”If we’re deciding on whose peculiarity is the best, check this out,” the redhead grinned. Hound recognised her accent as Scottish.

”Wait, Mary, maybe you don’t want to do that at the-“ Renee began.

She was interrupted by Octavia being lifted slowly from his seat. Mary, the redheaded girl, was staring at him really intensely, and it took Hound a moment too long to realise that it was her who was making the boy float. 

“You’v been practicing; well done, Mary,” Miss Peregrine praised her.

“‘Course,” Mary said, “wouldn’t be of much use to me if I dinnae know how to use it, now, would it?” 

“I’m more worried about the other part of your peculiarity,” the girl who’d previously been chasing Octavio piped up.

”Oh, you mean this, darlin’?” Mary grinned and dropped Octavio to hold her hands out, cupped as if holding something precious.

Hound watched intently, attention captured, as Mary slowly pulled her hands apart, revealing something spherical. It was as black as night and seemed to be distorting the air around it. Pulling it in, yet Mary’s hands seemed to be safe, untouched.

They frowned, confused, as everyone else froze with baited breath. 

“What is it?” Hound asked.

”Ya never heard of a blackhole, love?” Mary asked, watching them over the table.

Hound shook their head. They felt a little embarrassed, as if a blackhole was something they should know about.

”Ah, well this is a blackhole,” Mary said, “they’re usually a lot bigger. A _lot_ bigger.”

Slowly and carefully, she closed her palms again around the blackhole until it had disappeared from view, then separated them, revealing that the small blackhole was gone.

”They can be found in outer space. They suck in everything around them, planets and stars alike, until nothing’s left. Nothing can escape a blackhole, not even light. I can _create_ blackholes. Cool, eh, love?”

Hound gulped. Their irrational heart was racing. Mary’s words were less than comforting, though Hound was sure they were supposed to be.

”Okay, I think that’s enough of that,” Miss Peregrine decided, “does anyone else wish to introduce themselves to Hound?”

The girl on Mary’s right, a girl with dark skin and hair tied into buns, stood up and leaned across the table to Hound. They noticed she had a pair of blue gloves on. Confused, they shook her offered hand. 

“The name’s Ajay Che, I can heal people and make them better. Cuts, bruises, colds, coughs, the like, ya get me? Anyway, I’ve been here a long time so if you ever want to know something, wanna know where something is, I’m ya gal,” the girl introduced herself.

”Thank you,” Hound nodded, put at ease by her kind nature, “I am most grateful.”

Ajay chuckled and settled back into her seat. She bit down on a carrot stick.

”Makoa?” Miss Peregrine prompted one of the boys. He was nestled between Renee and Octavio.

He, like Mary, looked to be one of the older kids. Maybe fourteen or fifteen years of age. His brown hair was long and tied up into a small bun on top of his head. His eyebrows, a defining feature on his face, were just as dark as his hair. Though they looked cross, a smile lit up his face as the attention turned to him.

“Makoa Gibraltar,” he introduced himself, “it’s nice to meet you. I take it you wanna see what I can do?”

“You do not have to show me if you do not want to,” Hound hastily told him.

Makoa merely laughed.

”Throw something at me,” he said.

”What?” Hound questioned.

”Anything, throw something at me,” Makoa repeated himself.

With furrowed brows and an intense feeling of bemusement, Hound slowly reached for a carrot stick from their plate. Makoa chuckled aloud.

”Something else. How about your fork?” He suggested.

”But what if it hits you?” Hound said.

“It won’t, trust me.”

Hesitantly, Hound picked up their fork and tossed it at Makoa. Their hand had barely even fallen back to the table when the metal fork hit something invisible before it could make contact with Makoa.

Hound’s jaw fell, their mouth agape in surprise. How had the fork not hit him?

“Shields, that’s my peculiarity,” Makoa explained. 

“That is impressive,” Hound smiled.

”Ha, thank you,” Makoa chuckled.

”Anyone else?” Miss Peregrine asked with what looked like a proud smile.

”Ramya Parekh,” announced a girl at the end of the table.

Hound peered around Loba and some of the other peculiars to get a look at her. The first thing they noticed was that she had a gap between her two front teeth. It stuck out like a sore thumb.

To Hound’s bewilderment, she blew a giant pink bubble with bubblegum. She had a glove on only one hand, but they were fingerless.

”This is what I can do,” Ramya held out her hands and several items flew into her grasp.

Hound’s eyebrows furrowed. In the next moment, after a series of movements from Ramya’s hands, she held up a knife, made entirely of metal, including the hilt, for everyone to see.

”Amazing, Ramya, you’ve gotten better!” Natalie praised her.

”Here, mate, you can have it,” Ramya offered to Hound with a grin.

Hound took it by the hilt and stared at it.

”Ramya, what have I told you about using your peculiarity to make weapons?” Miss Peregrine tutted disapprovingly.

She took the knife from Hound and placed it beside her, out of reach. Hound couldn’t help but feel a little dejected. No one had ever given them a gift, let alone something they actually wanted.

Their own knife, which they’d lost only a year ago and had used for hunting small game before leaving their family, had been left to them by their father before his death.

They had always wanted a new knife but had never had any money to buy one or any skills to build one. Perhaps Ramya could teach them to make one or simply make them another one with her peculiarity. 

“And what did I say about chewing gum at the table?”

Ramya groaned and tossed it into the bin.

”Anyway, that’s my peculiarity,” Ramya said to Hound, “I can make anything out of anything. Basically, I can turn crap into gold. Metal is what I’m best at, but ya get the gist.”

”I can turn _into_ metal!” One of the boys piped up.

The boy had light freckles across his pale nose and cheeks and a mop of mousy brown hair with blue eyes to compliment them. He held up a hand and, to Hound’s surprise, it was indeed made of metal. In the next second, his hand had turned back into flesh and blood. 

“My name’s Marvin, by the way,” the boy added as an afterthought, “it’s nice to have someone else in the loop. That just means more friends for me!”

”I would love to be friends with all of you,” Hound said honestly.

* * *

Apparently, because it was so late, they needed to hurry and finish supper lest they miss the loop reset. 

Hound did their best to eat as fast as they could and when they were finished, they, along with the other peculiar children, threw on a coat each and rushed out into the garden.

Though there was no time to admire the scenery, Hound couldn’t help but stare at the magnificent plants sculpted to look like various animals. One of the bushes was shaped like a bird and, ironically, on top of said bush was a beautiful raven with midnight feathers glinting in the moonlight.

It cawed out loud, almost as if it was talking to Hound themselves. Despite their company, they replied to the bird.

” _Halló, fugl_ ,” they said quietly, aloud, “you are a very beautiful bird. I think I will call you... Artur. Yes, that is fitting. _Halló_ , Artur.”

”Hound, look, Miss P is about to reset the loop,” Natalie grabbed their attention from the raven sitting atop the bush. 

Reluctantly, they drew their eyes away from the raven watching them curiously and to Miss Peregrine and the rest of the peculiars. Miss Peregrine had her watch out and she was staring at it intently, waiting. 

Something sounded in the horizon, distant and droning. They rose their eyes to the dark night sky and caught sight of a plane passing overhead. The symbols on its wings made their heart jolt with fear and horror.

No. They had read about this war, about the atrocities that had happened during its reign. They knew all about their bomber planes and the destruction they could cause with a single bomb.

Then... more planes began to fly on by their new home.

Suddenly, they couldn’t help it. They were just so scared, so afraid of what was about to happen. Their hand, of its own free will, grabbed the nearest person.

What was going to happen next? They had to know before they, and the rest of their newfound family, died to a war long since passed. 

They blinked, eyes locked onto one of the passing planes, and reached seamlessly into the future. The bottom of the plane opened up slowly, too slowly, and revealed a bomb with the same symbol marked on the plane’s wings.

Then, the bomb fell. It fell slowly at first, just as slowly as it had been revealed, then it sped up. It quickly approached the ground, whistling the entire way down.

And then, before it could touch the green grass, Hound pulled away from the horrifying future and ran.

They tore their hand away from whoever they had grabbed, turned on their heel and ran back to the loop entrance. They didn’t even think to warn the others of what was going to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god this took me too long to write, i really hope you all like it x

**Author's Note:**

> their peculiarities will be mentioned next chapter, but im stuck on what peculiarities crypto, bangalore, revenant, and rampart should have? any ideas?
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed ^.^


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